Dining Reviews

While we’re completely enchanted by the entire experience at The Gate Mall, a special visit must be paid simply to enjoy the culinary pleasures at locally crafted concept The Chocolate Gate restaurant and café. Conceived with the notion of both international and innovative dining in mind as well as genius chocolate creations, The Chocolate Gate will win your heart with their twist on your international favorite; starting with making your own Saj to ending your experience by indulging in the most scintillating dessert donut and croissant hybrid that is the dossant.

We were delighted by the eclectic décor as we promptly arrived at The Chocolate Gate. From graffiti-adorned exposed brick walls by local artists, both baroque and French-inspired furniture, to the dainty crystal chandeliers, we enjoyed the all around boho-chic vibe of the place. Before we get into the details of the dishes that we tried here, a point that is worthy of mention is that The Chocolate Gate prepares everything in-house on a daily basis. From the pride and joy of their operation that is the freshly concocted chocolate using the finest ingredients to the buttery and flaky pastries and breads. With a menu that boasts of breakfast options, entrées and salads, main dishes, pastas and pizza dubbed as ‘Mama’s Selection’, ‘Roadies’ and sandwiches as well as a magnificent dessert menu, you can spend the entire day here and pay no heed to the concept of time.

If it’s breakfast that you’re after, the menu at The Chocolate Gate offers freshly baked wraps and classic favorites like Labneh and Halloumi and even sweet seductions like the Peach Stack Pancakes. The experience that tops it all however, is the do-it-yourself mini saj station, complete with classic favorites like Akkawi cheese, and dried thyme laden with olive oil and olives. The station arrives with your own mini Saj oven, so be prepared to take the reigns to become the next Saj-master! The concept of this dish that is also available as a DIY Crêpe station is creative, innovative and allows the diner to become a part of the dining experience. For those who want to be completely spoiled, our second favorite breakfast selection included the Chocolate To Live For, and it truly was eponymous. Think freshly baked baguette, topped with a healthy slathering of dark chocolate sauce, artisanal sea salt and drizzled with olive oil. This dish wins top marks from texture to flavor—every bite left our palates dancing with joy.

If you’re visiting The Chocolate Gate for lunch or dinner, we recommend that you start off your experience with The Chocolate Gate Salad, complete with succulent grilled chicken breast in rosemary herb-mayo with dried currants, candied pecans, crunchy celery served atop a bed of crunchy Romaine lettuce. This salad is perfect for sharing, as the generous helping that is dressed in a delectable balsamic glaze also comes with yummy shavings of Emmenthal cheese, making for the perfect combination of flavors. For some incredible main dishes, we loved the Chicken Kiev and we wouldn’t want to share this with anyone else! Not only had we lost hope in tasting this dish as it should be in Kuwait, our faith was restored by how it was presented at The Chocolate Gate. Expertly fashioned into mini towers drenched in honey mustard sauce, the mini towers are stuffed with minced chicken stuffed with cheese and turkey ham then fried to golden perfection. Seafood lovers will also enjoy the Sticky Sweet & Spicy Shrimp, a signature favorite at The Chocolate Gate.

When it comes to dessert at The Chocolate Gate, this place absolutely lives up to its name! Consider it the gateway to all things deviously delicious, if you may. We made sure to gulp down a much-needed espresso before we attempted to take on the desserts, and it was definitely worth the wait. The Black & White Brownies, the best-selling dessert here, arrived in a rustic pan with an injection of melted milk chocolate to be added to the fluffy brownie cake. The cake itself is not to sweet, but the swirls of vanilla sauce and the injection turn it into an indulgent dessert. The dossant, served with both vanilla and chocolate sauce and fresh berries, perfectly compliment the flaky donut-croissant hybrid. To end our dessert foray, we were served with a pizza that is like no other: The Crumby Pizza, an iconic creation by The Chocolate Gate that consisted of a chocolate-base pizza that features chunks of milk and white chocolate, caramelized hazelnuts shards as well as a medley of fruit. We’ll take another espresso now, thank you!

The Chocolate Gate is located at The Gate Mall, on the lower ground floor level. For more information, please call 2205 6111. Opening hours Sat-Wed 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Thu-Fri, 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Follow The Chocolate Gate on Instagram @TheChocoGate.